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Sunday, October 20, 2013

Salmon with Homemade Caper Onion Mayonnaise for #SundaySupper

Making homemade mayonnaise is a dying art but one I would love to see revived. It reminds me of my grandmother’s cheerful kitchen, painted the same friendly shade as lemon zest and her café-curtained window with bright, warm sunshine beaming in. The yellow yolks whipped into creaminess bring back the nostalgic taste of her warm potato salad. Proceed slowly, and you will be amply rewarded.

I don’t recall if my maternal grandmother ever had store-bought mayonnaise in her dark brown doublewide Admiral refrigerator. It’s possible she did. But I can tell you that when Sunday rolled around and she was making potato salad, she was also going to be making homemade mayo to put in it. My mother is the same. She says that when she was growing up, she avoided the kitchen when she saw the potatoes and eggs go on to boil, because otherwise she would be roped into making the mayonnaise and she lived in fear of the darn stuff splitting. Now she can’t get enough of homemade mayonnaise and makes it willingly. I imagine years of being press-ganged into service have made her an expert. When it came time to make a sauce for this week’s Sunday Supper theme of Sauce It Up, I knew exactly what I wanted to make. My own concoction of onion and capers added to my grandmother’s homemade mayonnaise. So I consulted the family expert. And this is what she sent me. Thanks, Mom! (My comments in green.)

For the caper onion mayonnaise:
1 recipe Mother’s homemade mayo
1/2 medium red onion (about 1 1/4oz or 35g)
2 tablespoons capers in brine with a little of the brine
More salt and pepper to taste – you can let it sit for a while after adding in the capers and then add more, if necessary. Remember that capers in brine are salty.

Using an electric mixer, add a little oil at a time to egg mixture and beat well. Be very careful, mayo can curdle if you add too much oil at one time. Continue mixing and adding oil gradually. (I used a whisk and added about a tablespoon or two at a time, whisking thoroughly in between. It took a while but I was watching The Great British Bake Off so I didn’t care!)

Just the four egg yolks.

Adding the first of the oil.

After the third or fourth addition of oil.

Add a few drops of water to mayo as it thickens. Sometimes I will use lemon juice or vinegar instead of the water. As it thickens, you may have to add more than one time. (Since I knew I was going to add the grated onion and capers at the end, I skipped this step. If you are making plain mayo, you may need to drizzle in a bit of water if it gets too thick.)

Continue the process until you have the desired amount of mayonnaise. (I stopped after adding the whole cup of canola, which gave me almost a cup and a half of mayo.)

The last of the oil going in.

Season with sea salt and black pepper.

You have now mastered my grandmother’s homemade mayonnaise. Well done! (If by some chance you did pour in the oil too fast and it split, rescue it with the instructions here. They work and, sadly, I know that from past personal experience.)

Now to make the caper onion mayonnaise, simply grate your onion very finely and make sure to collect the juice as you grate it. I actually left the onion whole and grated half off, which is easier than trying to grate a cut onion.

Add the grated onion and the juice to the mayonnaise.

Add in the capers with a little of their juice. Stir well, cover with cling film and, if you aren’t eating right away, store in the refrigerator.

And on to the salmon.

Season the salmon on both sides with a light sprinkle of sea salt flakes and black pepper.

Pan-fry it skin side up in a small drizzle of olive oil for a few minutes or until you can see the color of cooked pink come half way up the sides.

Turn the salmon filets over and cook for another few minutes or until the salmon is just cooked though and the skin is crispy.

Taste the caper onion mayo and add more salt and pepper if necessary, stirring well. Add a liberal dollop to the top of each salmon filet and serve.

Enjoy!

For lagniappe, as we say in south Louisiana – here’s just a little something extra:
If you are only serving two with salmon, you are going to have plenty of caper onion mayo left over. Stir some through a drained can of tuna and serve on toast. Delicious! I don’t know that my grandmother would approve but I think it would also be pretty good in potato salad. The caper onion mayo will keep for a couple of days in the refrigerator.

Join today’s host and all-around good guy, DB from Crazy Foodie Stunts, and the rest of the Sunday Supper group as we Sauce It Up!

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I hear you, Christie. :) Salmon is not everyone's favorite but it sure is one of mine. I have one friend who refuses to eat it. Her father had a salmon lease when she was growing up and she says she ate enough for a lifetime. Personally, I could eat it a couple of times a week. But at least we agree on the mayo!

Rapeseed is the same as what we call canola, Jaime. Same yellow flowering plant you see in the farmlands of France and Italy when you drive through anyway. I've used it for years in anything that needs a light oil. I don't know why it should be so expensive there. In most of the world, where I have lived anyway, it's right there in the big plastic bottles with the corn and vegetable oils.

ON the separate note: I know, right?! I was so sure that Ruby would be out this week! It's going to be a great finale. I CAN'T WAIT.

You're definitely right that few people try making their own mayo. I'm worried about food poisoning because I'm paranoid. Your mayo looks incredible, Stacy - way better than the processed crap I buy in the super market. And you cooked your salmon to perfection. I'm the worse - I always overcook mine and it ends up dry. The next time I do that, I should just slather this mayo over it. This will make anything tasty!

Oh good lord, this looks so decadent and amazing. And you know, when I first heard of the combination of mayonnaise and salmon I was so reluctant to try it. Mostly because I thought it would make the whole thing too rich and not enough contrast in textures. As you know, I was very wrong. :)

That mayo looks PERFECT. I love making my own mayonnaise and aioli (in fact, my most recent post was about aioli) as it's so easy and so much tastier than shop-bought stuff. I've never actually made a homemade mayo to go with salmon. Great idea. Definitely trying this... I can even imagine using the sauce with fish and chips. Yum! xx

If you are worried about salmonella, you can use pasteurized egg yolks, Nancy. I think the risk is low, but it depends on who you are serving it too, of course. You wouldn't want to serve raw eggs to anyone at risk.

Cooking for people I love, creating deliciousness out of fresh ingredients, browsing through cookbooks for inspiration, perusing grocery shelves for choice items and writing about my expat life enriched by food. That's what I do here.